Some say the Clippers won. Some say the Lakers won.
We won’t really know until the season unfolds. What we do know for sure is that the OKC Thunder and NOLA Pelicans won … a whole lot of picks. They basically own the Lakers and Clippers for the next few years. So, fans of either LA… you better hope this works out.
Another thing we do know is that both teams have rapidly climbed to the top of the NBA odds-boards to win the 2019 NBA Championship.
The Skinny
The Clippers now have Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. The Lakers have Lebron James and Anthony Davis. So who is the better pair? Leonard and George or James and Davis?
Anthony Davis is just 26. He’s one of the best defensive players in the league, and he may even replace Timmy Duncan –someday– as the best big forward in the game. Some are already stating that Davis will be the best teammate that LeBron has ever had. But wait there’s more …
The Lakers also picked up Boogie … and Danny Green. Now people underestimate Danny Green, but he’s a guy who can shoot the lights out and very subtly helps to spread the floor. Let’s not forget that Rajon Rondo is still in Laker land to help anchor this team with his experience and leadership and guys like Kyle Kuzma are coming of age, so to speak.
On the other side, we have Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. This is going to be a devastating duo. But we have to look at the whole team. The Clips retained Patrick Beverly, who does it all on both sides of the ball. They picked up a reliable shooter on the wing in Maurice Harkless from the Trail Blazers, who also plays decent defense. They’ve got a guy that can swat balls around the rim, like Ivica Zubac and guys like Landry Shamet who can drop buckets from outside the arc.
Now when we look at the rosters apples-to-apples, I’d have to say that the Lakers won the off-season. Yes, the Clips won in getting Kawhi, but all in all, the Lakers area finally a deep team in both talent and experience, both at the starting spots and on the bench. That said, The Clips just might gel better. There is some intangible dynamics that play major roles in fostering championship teams, and while the jury is still out on both squads, Doc Rivers’ crew seems like it might have that hidden something that ‘just works.’
We’ll have to and see. California is where it’s at in the NBA right now. Even with KD gone, the Warriors were a perennial powerhouse without him (+1350 to win the title). They still have Curry, Thompson, Green, a load of supporting cast and they picked up D ‘Angelo Russell, so they have two of the best point guards in the NBA.
So just because the LA teams have been upgraded in a major way, doesn’t mean that the path through the Western Conference is cleared for them just yet. It’s still stacked with good teams.
Who do you think won the ‘LA Offseason?’ Let us know in the comment section!
